The invention relates to improvements in electric hair dryers of the type wherein a hollow housing defines an inlet for admission of cool air and an outlet for heated air and the housing confines a motor-driven rotor (e.g., an impeller) for including the flow of air from the inlet toward the outlet and an electric heater for the flow of air. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in electric hair dryers of the type disclosed in the aforementioned copending patent application Ser. No. 301,541 of Hans-Dieter Poweleit for "Portable electric hair dryer".
The copending patent application of Poweleit dicloses an electric hair dryer wherein a first insulating carrier for electrical and/or electronic components in the motor circuit is provided with one or more first electric contacts which are separably connectable with complementary second electric contacts on a second insulating carrier forming part of or supporting the electric heater. This ensures that the heater can be connected with an energy source by way of contacts on the first insulating carrier as well as that the second insulating carrier and the heater can be readily coupled with or detached from the first insulating carrier. The first insulating carrier is a polygonal plate which is disposed in diametral plane of the motor and is receivalbe in a recess which is defined by two crossing plate-like sections of the second insulating carrier. The electric contacts on the first insulating carrier are adjacent slots which are provided in the front edge face of the first carrier and can receive suitably bent elastic lugs of electric contacts on the second carrier. An advantage of the hair dryer of Poweleit is that the second carrier and the electric heater can be assembled into a prefabricated unit which is readily connectable to and detachable from the first carrier. Moreover, the establishment of an electrical connection between the contacts on the first and second carriers entails the establishment of a mechanical connection between the two carriers and vice versa.
The just described carriers occupy a relatively large amount of space in the interior of the housing because the entire first carrier extends forwardly and beyond the motor to be partially received in the recess of the second carrier. Moreover, the establishment of an electrical connection between the contacts on the first and second carriers necessitates the application of a force which is required to simultaneously establish a mechanical connection between the two carriers. The overall length of the first carrier (as seen in the direction of the flow of air from the inlet toward the outlet of the housing) equals or approximates the length of the second carrier even thought the depth of the aforementioned notches in the front edge face of the first carrier is only a small or minute fraction of the length of a carrier.